Web personalization involves tailoring Web content directly to a specific user. This can be accomplished by having the user provide information to the Web site directly, or through tracking of the user's behavior on the site. The software on the Web site then can modify the content to suit the particular user's needs. That is, all the personalization is done at the Web site.
Typically, a Web site maintains profiles of the users that visits the site, and analyzes the information gathered. Based on this analysis, information of interest to each user is delivered.
Explicit or implicit profiling techniques can be used to collect user information, either alone or in combination. Explicit profiling involves asking each user to complete a questionnaire or similar, while implicit profiling involves tracking the behavior of each user, and drawing inferences from such observed behavior.
One form of implicit profiling involves the use of “cookies” that are stored at the browser and updated at each visit, and record browsing patterns.
To present appropriate content to the user and make proper recommendation, rule-based techniques or filtering techniques can be used. Filtering techniques may involve simple filtering, content-based filtering and collaborative filtering. Collaborative-filtering software compares the information gained about one user's behavior against data about other users with similar interests.
None of the techniques described above are entirely satisfactory. Consequently, techniques are sought that have application in navigating electronic content.